Orchard of Lost Souls

From the author ofThe Fortune Men, longlisted for The Booker Prize 2021... From Somalilands bitter past blooms a moving and mature novel of conflict and survival Independent It is 1988 and Hargeisa waits. Whispers of revolution travel on the dry winds but still the dictatorship remains secure. Soon, and through the eyes of three women, we will see Somalia fall. Nine-year-old Deqohas left the vast refugee camp she was born in, lured to the city by the promise of her first pair of shoes. Kawsar, a solitary widow, is trapped in her little house with its garden clawed from the desert, confined to her bed after a savage beating in the local police station. Filsan, a young female soldier, has moved from Mogadishu to suppress the rebellion growing in the north. And as the country is unravelled by a civil war that will shock the world, the fates of the three women are twisted irrevocably together. Intimate, frank, brimming with beauty and fierce love,The Orchard of Lost Soulsis an unforgettable account of ordinary lives lived in extraordinary times.*** Praise for Nadifa Mohamed *** Mohamed is a lyrical writer, and although her material could easily be exploited, she does not so much milk it for emotion as elevate it to a kind of searing poetry Publishers Weekly A writer of great humanity and intelligence. Nadifa Mohamed deeply understands how lives are shaped both by the grand sweep of history and the intimate encounters of human beingsKamila Shamsie, author ofHome FireThe Fortune Menconfirms Mohamed as a literary star of her generationObserverMohamed is . . . intent on expanding her world, listing its teeming varieties and presentinga wealth of character and language TLS Evocative and enlightening New Statesman As these three womens stories entwine, the result is a moving and captivating tale of survival and hope in a war-torn country, and confirms Mohameds stature as one of Britains best young novelists Stylist Three women watch, and suffer, as their native Somalia descends into brutal civil war. Its 1988. The atrocities pile up, but the authorial voice remains resolutely melodic Vogue With the unadorned language of a wise, clear-eyed observer, Nadifa Mohamed has spun an unforgettable tale. The Orchard of Lost Souls recounts not just a states descent into war, but wars most heartbreaking human toll: the death of dreams Taiye Selasi, author of Ghana Must Go